The Newcomer
by TheWulfWriter
Summary: This is a story about my characters Xander the wolf and Zhi the snake, coming to the jade Palace and meeting everyone. Sorry, I can't write summaries. Rated T just in case.
1. The Newcomer

Hello, Everyone. This is my first Kungfu Panda Fanfic, so sorry if it isn't very good. I'm not not good at writing authors note so instead I will just type the disclaimer and let you read the story.  
>Disclaimer: I dont own anything in this story except the stuff I made up, so please don't use my characters, Xander and Zhi, without permission. Thanks.<p>

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><p>The Jade Palace. It stood atop a mountain in the valley of peace as a beacon of strength and protection. It was also the resting place of the furious five, Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Mantis and Viper, as well as the renowned Dragon Warrior, Po. Master shifu was sitting in the kitchen awaiting dinner with the rest of the five.<p>

Thunder boomed outside the Dojo like a cannon. "Whoa," Po said as he set the steaming bowls of his famous noodles in front of his friends "That's some storm, it's really Pouring out there." Tigress was sitting to the right of him with a frustrated expression "Right in the middle of our training session" she growled. She had just took up her stance to fight Po when a torrential rain hit "Well, I'm enjoying the rest" Stated Monkey, and the others chimed in their agreements, the break in their rigorous schedule was a welcome one.

Thy all sat in silence since Viper, who seemed to be lost in thought, was usually the one who instigated the conversation. Suddenly Viper looked up from her noodles and said "You know, aside from Po, it's been a while since anyone has visited the Jade Palace" Everyone paused a moment to think back and realized that Viper was correct. "It has been a while hasn't it?" Asked Monkey.

As if on que, a shadowy, hooded figure was trudging through the rain to the door of the dojo and raised a paw to knock. "Someones at the door" Master Shifu said, raising an eyebrow at Viper. "I'll get it." Po exclaimed, jumping up from the table and running out of the kitchen. Viper watched him go, and shortly after she had the feeling she was being watched and turned to see everyone was giving her a wierd look. "What?" she asked, causing the others to return their attention to the noodles in front of them "It was a coincidence!"

Po had reached the door by now, but was now hunched over in front of the door, breathing heavily with one hand on the door. Another knock on the door startled Po and he straightened up. Just as he opened the door there was a flash of lightning and in that brief moment Po saw a hooded figure with sharp teeth protruding from a long grey muzzle, and a clawed hand reaching for his neck. Po's fur stood on end and he slammed the door shut, pressing his back against it to keep the creature out. 'What do I do?' Po thought, trying to come up with a plan, after a moments thought he put his master plan into action. That scream was heard through out the halls of the Jade Palace. Master Shifu and the Five jumped up from their seats once it reached the kitchen "Was that Po?" Asked Monkey, each one looked at the other and then they ran out of the room.

Once they arrived at the door they saw Po barricading the door with a terrified look on his face. "Po, what Happened?" Crane asked, as they all looked around for potential threats. "Some creature tried to grab my throat!" All eyes were on Po after that statement. Someone, or something, had tried to choke him? "Who was it Po?" Master Shifu asked urgently, the thought that some one was trying to harm one of his students made him angry. "I-i don't know, he was wearing a robe, so I couldn't see his face." Po stuttered, obviously still shook up from the prier attempt on his life. "Be on your guard everyone," Shifu ordered "someone has chosen to attack us." Everyone got into a defensive stance in order to fend off the unknown assailant.

"Umm.. excuse me, sir" a voice called from above, and everyone instantly turned to face him, ready to fight. "Thats him!" Po exclaimed. Just then a Bolt of lightning streaked across the sky behind him, and Shifu could tell by the fact that he remained perfectly balanced on the window sill that he was a fighter of some skill. He then performed a front flip and landed just six feet away from them "who are you?" Demanded Shifu, but the intruder gave no response other then to crouch and point his arm at the floor in oder to let a snake crawl out. The snake looked up at Shifu smiled and said "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Zhi, and that is my companion Xander." Zhi said, pointing at Xander with his tail. Xander put his fist into his palm and bowed toward Shifu, showing that he meant no harm.

"What do you want?" Tigress asked as she got into her Tiger stance. "We are no threat to you, we are merely seeking shelter from the rain." Zhi said, still smiling as he believed that it would help to relieve the tension that hung in the air. "Then why did Xander try to grab my throat when I opened the door?" Po inquired, pointing accusingly at Xander. A look of confusion replaced Zhi's smile momentarily, but soon after he chuckled "Allow me to explain, you see Xander had just raised his paw to knock again, when the Panda there opened the door, only to slam it in our faces." Zhi said, looking at Po accusingly as he said those last few words.

"Oh, uhh.." Po said, feeling very embarrassed by his actions. Monkey, Crane and Mantis put their hands over their mouths to stifle a laugh, as did Viper with her tail. Po stepped forward hurriedly, and said "I'm so sorry" Zhi smiled wide at him to show there were no ill feelings between them "It's quite alright, Panda." He said, yawning afterwards. "Forgive me if I seem brash," Zhi stated, turning his attention to Shifu "but we are rather tired and would like to retire for the night, If we may?" "Of course" Shifu said, signaling for the Five to stand down, "Tigress, Monkey, would you show our guests to their rooms?" Asked Shifu, Yes, Master Shifu." they replied in unison, bowing toward him. Monkey walked over to them and said "This way" "Lead the way" Zhi said, following Monkey as he walked down the hall. Xander followed silently behind him while Tigress took up the rear.

Monkey lead them through the halls to a row of doors, walked down to the last one and opened it for them. "Here we are" He said as Xander and Zhi walked inside. "Sleep well" He added as an afterthought. "This shall do splendidly, Thank you." Zhi said while admiring the room. Xander put his right paw on the door, Thank you" he said, in a low, fatigue ladden voice, before sliding the door shut.

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><p>Welll, thats it, what did you think? Sorry if everyone seemed out of character. Please review, and be brutal, lol. I will post the next chapter as soon as I can.<p>

TheWulfWriter signing off.


	2. Back To Training

Hello everyone, I have returned! I'm really sorry about my absence, but I've been in the process of moving and didn't have internet for weeks. Anyway, I hope whoever has read the first chapter will forgive me for uploading such a bad chapter after so long a wait. Well, here it is finally, the second chapter. Enjoy!

_Disclaimer: I own nothing! except the plotline of this story and my two characters and the other stuff I thought up._

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Back to training

The arc lamp of the sky sprayed forth rays of light upon the land, spreading slowly across the valley as it rose from it's resting place amongst the stars. Inside the palace, A small red panda was walking down the hall to his students sleeping quarters. The gong sounded and within seconds, Monkey, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Tigress were standing at attention outside the doors to their respective rooms. "Good morning master!" They said, greeting him in unison. "Good morning, students" He replied, looking at each of them individually untill his eyes landed on the empty space where Po should have been. Shifu's eyebrows lowered slightly in annoyance. That panda was never up with the rest of them.

"Po!" He yelled, successfully keeping the frustration out of his voice, but leaving a stern tone in its place. A crash sounded from inside Po's room, signifying that he had been startled awake and jumped up, likely knocking something over in the process. The door flew open and he came stumbling out, hastily standing at attention. "G-good morning, Master" He stuttered, embarrassment causing a slight red tint to appear on his cheeks. Tigress sneered and rolled her eyes at his ineptitude to get up at the sound of the gong. It still frustrated her that he got accepted into the dojo, not to mention was chosen as the Dragon Warrior, granted she tolerated him more then when he first arrived, it still irked her when she saw how clumsy and overweight he was. Although Tigress wouldn't admit it, she was flattered by his fanboyism, though it also made her want to use him as a scratching post sometimes.

Shifu shook his head at the large panda, Will he ever wake up at the gong? He wondered before remembering their visitors. Shifu decided to leave them be for a while longer. Everyone was seated in the kitchen awaiting breakfast, though food was the last thing on their minds. "So..." Viper began, trailing off as she tried to find something to break the awkward silence that hung in the air. "What do you think of our guests?" That question exposed the elephant in the room, who then apologized and went back home. (Sorry, I had to) Mantis was the first to give his opinion "Zhi seemed nice, but Xander gives me the creeps" "Yeah, whats with that guy anyway?" Po said, joining in as he emerged with the steaming bowls of noodles "I mean, he didn't say a word last night." Viper, being the kind hearted soul that she was, spoke up in his defense "Maybe he was just tired?" everyone nodded in agreement. That was most likely it. "He did thank us after we showed them to their room." Monkey said before taking a bite of his noodles.

Just then, Zhi entered the kitchen with Xander following close behind. "Good morning everyone!" Zhi exclaimed cheerfully, a smile plastered across his face. It was as if he woke up and the world made sense. Xander had shed his cloak and was now wearing a sleeveless black Chinese gi with white trim. Vipers eyes widened, as did the others, when she saw the scar that ran diagonally between his silver eyes. Viper was burning with curiosity, but knew better then to ask. Tigress's cold eyes were directed toward Xander. She recognized that scar, something about it made her uncomfortable, as if causing a ripple in the forgotten waters of her mind.

Viper had just opened her mouth to welcome them to the dojo when she heard a voice that signified her curiosity might soon be sated, "Whoa..what happened to your face?" Asked the large panda not only awe-struck, but also struck by Monkey's hand as he whacked him on the back of the head. Viper slapped her forehead with her tail, as did Zhi, knowing how big of a mistake he had just made, then looked sidelong at Xander to see his reaction. Po rubbed his head and was about to inquire as to the reason for his pain when he saw the look in the tall wolfs eyes. Po felt like he was paralyzed as he looked into Xanders narrowed eyes. Mantis looked at Po, who's eyes were rather large, then Xander, who was staring menacingly at the panda, then back at Po "I think he broke him" Mantis stated, waving a foreleg in front of his face. Zhi cleared his throat and nudged Xander in a subtle signal to let it go.

"You see," He began, his smile fading as Xander turned and walked to the table they had set up for them "It is best if you don't ask my companion about anything concerning his past." His gaze met with each person at the table as he spoke. Shifu noticed the look in his eyes, it seemed as though he were searching for something but had yet to find it. "He made it very clear to me that he has no desire to speak of it." Po just nodded. He was still a little stunned by the stare down he was just in. "On a lighter note, if you will show us to the kitchen, Xander and I would like to make our breakfast." He said as his ever present smile returned. Upon hearing the word kitchen, Po suddenly looked up, remembering the noodles he had set aside for them, and jumped up. "Oh, you don't have to do that, I made you some noodles." He said, hurrying into the kitchen. Zhi wasn't surprised that the portly panda did the cooking.

Po came out of the kitchen holding two plates of steaming noodles. "This is greatly appreciated, Panda." Zhi said, picking up the chopsticks with his tail. "Thank you." Xander said, picking up his chopsticks as well. Po was a little taken aback when Xander spoke to him. "Wow, this is exquisite!" Zhi said after tasting the noodles. "Thanks! And call me Po." He said, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks at the compliment. He had forgotten that the others were used to his cooking. Zhi nodded his head in greeting and said "Well it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Po." Po smiled at him and then returned to his seat.

(Time warp, go!)

It was now time to start training, but Shifu had the matter of their guests to attend to. He directed his students to their normal routine, then went to speak with Zhi, seeing as how he seemed to handle the negotiations. As he approached them, for they were observing how the others trained, Xander turned to him and bowed in respect. "Forgive me for making assumptions," began Shifu as he looked between the two "But I do not think that you walked all the way up here just to get out of the rain?" Zhi looked at Xander as if to say 'your turn' "You are right, Master Shifu, we have come so I may request to train under you" Shifu studied the wolf in front of him, stroking his goatee in thought. After a moment he looked Xander in the eye and said "Very well, I will train you." A slight smile creased Xanders muzzle as he put his fist in his paw and bowed in respect "Thank you, Master Shifu" he said, before standing straight.

A mischievous grin spread across Shifu's face "Don't thank me yet," He said, earning a look of confusion from Xander, as well as Zhi "We must see how well you fare against one of my pupils first" A look of understanding replaced the confusion present on Xanders face and he bowed again "Yes, Master Shifu" He replied, accepting the challenge. Shifu called his students over and, once they had arrived announced "Students, Xander here would like to train with us, but he must spar with one of you first" "Yes, Master" They replied in unison. Po was a little nervous that he would get picked, he didn't want to face the scary wolf in a fight. After a moments thought, Shifu turned to his best pupil, " Tigress, you will be his opponent." He said, his grin widening ever so slightly. "Yes, Master" she replied, bowing toward him. Po sighed inwardly as relief washed over him.

(Fasten your seatbelts readers, we've got another time warp incoming!)

Everyone was standing by the sparing area, observing the two fighters in front of them, as they walked to either side of the sparing ring. Tigress took up her stance and fixed Xander with her signature stare of death, but, to her annoyance, he didn't cringe nor was there fear in his eyes, in fact a slight smile hung on his muzzle. "W-Wait, wait, what?" Po asked of no one in particular, turning to the others "Why is he smiling?" The others were just as surprised as him. Just then they heard something that made them question their hearing, "I think I'm going to enjoy this" Xander said as he mimicked Tigress's stance.

That statement caught everyone off guard. No one had ever looked forward to fighting the hostile feline. "Well, either he's got guts, or he doesn't know what he's in for." Monkey said, noticing Po's jaw had almost hit the floor. "Or he's full of himself." Mantis said, giving his two cents worth. Overhearing the conversation, Zhi decided to speak up "I can assure you he knows quite well what he's getting into," Zhi said, turning to face the four warriors "and he most certainly is not 'full of himself' as you say" Zhi stated, lifting his tail and bending it twice at the tip in an attempt to make quotation marks.

"But, he has protected me on numerous occasions and I can vouch for his skill." After hearing this, Po's fanboyism kicked in and, once he successfully picked his jaw up off the floor, said "Maybe he is good, but there is no way he can stand up to the pure awesomeness of Master Tigress" Po was getting excited to see the match. Master Shifu gave the signal to start and thus the battle between the master of the Tiger style and an unknown wanderer began.

Tigress charged at Xander and attacked with a back hand to the left side of his face, who blocked and countered with a palm strike to the chest. Tigress ducked into a sweeping kick, avoiding his attack and knocking him off his feet, then quickly transitioned to a full circle roundhouse aimed at the upper torso. Xander, seeing the leg coming toward him out of the corner of his eye, twisted his upper body and crossed his arms in an 'x' just in time to block the kick, but was still sent flying toward the dojo by the sheer force behind it. "He's gonna hit the dojo!" Po announced, his expression a mixture of excitement and worry. fortunately, right before impact Xander recovered and turned his feet to the wall, pushing off after he made contact and sailed through the air, twisting in a corkscrew fashion before ending in a front flip to land behind Tigress.

"Well," He said, standing to face her "I guess I've underestimated you" This earned a growl from Tigress, not so much in anger, but more that his statement dealt a blow to her pride as a warrior, for they implied that he had not considered her a suitable challenge and thus went easy on her. She certainly did not spend the majority of her life training just to have some wanderer come in and downgrade her skill, not to mention fail to show her the respect she had earned. Just as he returned to his stance, she snarled and charged at him, thrusting her right palm straight at his muzzle, but he swiftly dodged and crouched into a sweeping leg kick, which Tigress dodged by jumping at an angle and aiming her right leg at his head as she spun.

Xander then raised his left arm and winced as it connected. In this manner the battle wore on, blows were exchanged, as well as countered. Neither combatant had a clear advantage as they danced around the sparing ring, "Whoa, look at the pure awesomeness of their moves!" Po exclaimed as he watched like a child seeing fireworks explode across the sky. "Yeah, thats some Waltz." Monkey added, stroking his chin. "No," Mantis objected, shaking his head "see how their moving , thats a Fox Trot." "Quiet, guys, you'll distract them." Viper snapped, glaring at them. "Besides," she added as a grin stretched across her mouth "look how he's holding her, it's obviously a Tango." (Sorry, again. I had to.)

The longer Xander lasted, the more frustrated Tigress became and a slight growl escaped her throat. Aside from Master Shifu, it had been a long time since she'd had an opponent that seemed to be on par with her. There was a pause in the fight and she glared at him, he glared back. Tigress seethed with hostility as she looked for a weakness in the annoying wolf's defense. After a couple of seconds, her ears perked up and a small triumphant smile spread across her muzzle. She had found an opening and planned to take full advantage of it.

Tigress charged forward and leapt into the air, falling toward him poised to strike the finishing blow, but just as she landed, she quickly transitioned to a leg sweep, followed by a rising kick to send him in the air before jumping and finishing the attack with a powerful back flip kick that sent him crashing to the ground. Master Shifu raised his hand to signify that the match was over and Tigress looked at Xander over her shoulder as she stood and let out a contemptuous "Hmph" as she walked away. "Ha!" Po exclaimed, raising his fist in the air "Told you he was no match for Tigress." The others walked over to the wolf laying on the ground to see if he was ok.

Just as they reached him, he groaned and stood up, holding one paw to his head as he did. "Are you alright?" Viper and Zhi asked simultaneously, then looked at each other in surprise, "Umm..Sorry." Zhi muttered and a red tint began to show on his face as he looked into Vipers big green eyes. 'Wow,' he thought, barely noticing the fangless smile she was giving him, 'Her eyes are beautiful.' "Thats alright." Viper said, though she was unperturbed as she turned back to Xander. "I'm fine." He stated coolly, "Shes stronger then I thought" Viper thought she noticed something in his voice, whether it was admiration, surprise, or something else entirely, she couldn't tell. "Of course she is!" Po said enthusiastically "It's called being awesome!" Xander took a step backward, seeing as how Po had invaded his personal when he said this. Master Shifu stepped forward to congratulate him. "Xander, you did very well, quite past my expectations." "Thank you, Master Shifu" Xander said, turning to him and bowing. Master Shifu grinned as he looked up at the tall lupine fighter.

"I would be pleased to have you as one of my students." A brief smile showed itself when he heard this and he bowed once more, "Thank you Master Shifu, I am honored to study your teachings." "Welcome to the Dojo" Monkey said, patting him on the shoulder. "Yeah, I can't wait to unleash my kung fu moves of awesome!" Po said, leaping into a pose and performing a few punches. Viper turned to Zhi and said "We're glad to have you here" A wide, friendly smile was gracing her features as she looked at him. "U-uhh..T-thank you, t-the pleasures all m-mine" was the only response the flustered snake could manage "Oh, hehe, you're welcome" She giggled.

"I don't meant to interrupt the welcome," Mantis said, looking around "but, where's Tigress." This alerted the other to the fact that the cold feline was no where to be seen. Unbeknownst to them, she had excused herself and was now walking to her favorite spot to meditate.

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><p>So, what did you think? Does it help get me off the hook? I'll try to have the next chapter up within a week so, read and review, please. any constructive crit. is very welcome. Oh and I know I am probably in no position to ask for a favor, but could you kind readers give me some advice andor suggestions on what you think Xander should wear in later chapters? I'd really appreciate it, Thank you.

TheWulfWriter signing off.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone, I'm back! I know this probably doesn't count for much by now, but I'm REALLY sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. I don't really have an excuse, but I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope to start adding chapters regularly.  
>Disclaimer: I don't own anything here except my characters and the plot.<p>

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><p>Chapter three<p>

Common Ground

The sun had risen to its peak in the heavenly mansion of the stars, shining down through the clouds on a lone figure that walked up the path to the Pool of Sacred Tears. Ever since Tigress was young, this had been a favorite spot of hers. She came here whenever she needed to clear her mind, or calm down. And right now, she had a lot to think about, so she felt it necessary to excuse herself from the company of the others. She also wasn't in the welcoming mood.

By now she had arrived at the Pool of Sacred Tears, and closed her eyes as the gentle fingers of the wind brushed her fur. Her ears perked up as the song of the birds floated to them, and, after half opening her eyes, beheld the Vibrant blue sky accentuated by fluffy ivory clouds which she thought would be quite ideal to take a long nap on. The Pool of Sacred Tears had always managed to bring about a welcome, albeit rare, moment of ataraxia in her life.

Tigress took a deep breath of the fresh air and held it for a few seconds before releasing it and walking over to the Pools edge to sit, legs crossed, and begin her meditation. Just then the image of Xanders face appeared in her mind and she was once again struck with the feeling that she had seen him before, but where remained a mystery. Why do I feel like I know him? She thought, searching her memory in an attempt to identify him. Did I fight him at a tournament? No, thats not it, I think I would remember fighting him.

This was beginning to annoy her, and her lips curled in a slight snarl. Maybe if I clear my mind I'll be able to remember She thought as she took a deep breath and the storm in her mind began to calm and she set her mind upon attaining inner peace and perhaps revealing those seldom trod pathways in the forest of her memory. As the serene feline meditated, her mind entered a trance-like state, there was a flash of light and several screams reached her ears which, as suddenly as they started, were drowned out by the blood chilling howl of the Kara'ton.

The Kara'ton were a race of wolves whose entire existence revolved around battle and conquest, she then found herself surrounded by burning buildings in an area of the Valley of Peace. Tigress looked around in stunned disbelief until her eyes fell upon the silhouette of a young wolf just fifteen feet in front of her, dragging, with apparent effort, one much bigger then him and she could feel an air of desperation as well as panic emanating from him so Tigress tried to run over to him to help, but found that her feet felt as though they were made of granite, making it a struggle just to take a few steps. "Hold on, I'm coming!" She yelled.

Alas, she had barely finished her sentence when the young wolf and he that was being carried were engulfed in a malevolent wall of flame. "No!" she cried straining even harder to get to them. Just then her eyes snapped open and she beheld the Pool of Sacred Tears before her once again. Her heart was racing in her chest and she had broken out into a cold sweat, thus she proceeded to take a deep breath and let the familiar sounds of her surroundings calm her. Once she felt her heart rate slow to it's normal pace she began to ponder the things she had seen.

Could that young wolf have been Xander?

If so, what had happened to him?

And why couldn't she remember?

The answers to these burning questions eluded her for some time, until suddenly her keen ears picked up the faint sound of a tree limb creaking, followed by the rapid fluttering wings of a bird who has been scared away from it's nest. An eerie silence had settled upon her surroundings as she listened for any kind of sound that could reveal to her the location of the intruder.

"I thought I might find you here." She heard a voice say, one which made her eyes widen in surprise. Surprise that someone had found her as well as surprise at who it was. Tigress got to her feet and turned around to see a large silhouette and gleaming silver eyes watching her and attempted to hide her shock behind a glare. "What do you want?" she asked in a disinterested tone as she watched him jump from the tree, temporarily flattening the grass where he landed. A smile appeared on his muzzle as he stood and walked silently toward her.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that your little disappearing act after our sparring match had everyone, including me, wondering where you went." He replied, stopping in front of her. he seemed to tower over her, and it was apparent that he trained constantly, perhaps as much as she did. "Well," Tigress began in a cold tone, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at him to indicate she wanted to be left alone "now that you've found me, you can leave." "Ouch." Xander said, wincing as if her words had caused him actual pain.

Inspite of Tigress' cold words, Xander did the opposite and walked past her to sit at the waters edge. This most unpredictable response caused a look of bewilderment to momentarily replace her glare. Any of the others would take the hint and leave. Once she regained her composure, she walked up beside him and said, "What are you doing?" Xander gestured toward the lake and the enclosing scenery and replied "What? I can't enjoy the scenery?" This only served to make Tigress's tail twitch in annoyance. "Fine." she muttered under her breath as she turned her back to him and sat down to resume her meditation.

A few minutes of silence passed and Xander began to scrape a claw on the ground in random patterns and Tigress could feel the awkward silence laying heavily on the air. "That was some match. You're the strongest opponent I've faced in a long time." Tigress muttered a thank you and remained silent. It was one of my more challenging matches She thought as, unbeknownst to her, a grudging respect for him had begun to form. "So tell me," Xander began, prying his eyes from the glittering water to look over at her "What was that move you used on me to end it?"

A smile spread across Tigress's muzzle "It was one i've been working on for a while" she said before looking over her shoulder at him to add "Thanks for being the guinea pig, by the way." "A pleasure, M'lady" Xander said, bowing as best he could from his position on the grass. his response caused the smallest of giggles to escape the felines muzzle whilest she turned back around, then it suddenly struck her _Since when do I feel so open with him? I even giggled!_ Tigress mentaly kicked herself for being so talkative with the wolf, but as luck would have it, another thought soon struck her. He had been nice enough to compliment her, so she now felt obligated to return the kindness.

Unfortunatly, compliments were not her strong point. "umm..You did pretty good, too." Tigress' cheeks suddenly felt warm, so she glued her amber eyes to a nearby rock as if it had got up and moved. Xander arched an eyebrow, amazement etched into his features as he stared at the usaully taciturn feline "Do my ears decieve me? Or did I just recieve a compliment from the cold Master Tigress?" Tigress could almost feel the sarcasm in his voice. _He's mocking me!_ "Well, fine, see if I compliment you again" She said with a 'hmph'. Xanders keen ears picked up on the urked tone in her reply and then mentally kicked himself for his sarcastic response to her praise. He had a tendency to do that whenever he was caught off guard to hide his surprise, so he got up and moved to sit in front of her in order to apologize. "A thousand pardons, Lady Tigress, It was never my intention to make you feel unappreciated."

Though Tigress wouldn't admit it, she kind of liked being addressed as 'Lady Tigress" but she was still urked at him "Then why did you?" she queried, looking him full in the face. In that moment Xanders mind went blank _Wow, her eyes are beautiful!_ Then it occured to him what just passed through his mind, _Wait, did I really just think that?_ "Well?" Inturrupted the irritated voice of Tigress before he could think about it any longer. The flustered canine raised a hand to the back of his head and, as he looked away from her amber gaze, stuttered "U-umm.. I tend to do that to hide my embarassment"

Once Tigress heard that, her anger was slowly replaced with curiosity. That answer struck her as a bit odd. "Why is that?" she asked. Xander glanced at her and muttered "I don't know" _He's lying _Tigress thought, it was easy to tell _He obviously doesn't want to say, so I won't press it._ The embarrassed wolf in front of her was avoiding eye contact as he stared at the ground. It must be pretty embarrassing she thought, noting the pink tinge on his cheeks. A grin slowly spread across her muzzle _He looks kind of cute when he's embarrassed_. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, the smile vanished, her eyes became like unto saucers and she almost fell over from shock. _What! _she yelled to herself _Cute? I've never thought of anything as cute in my life!_ Her face was growing steadily warmer as she stared intently at her paws. Xander, noticing the looming awkward silence, raised his eyes once more to the quiet feline in front of him.

Is she still mad at me? he thought and, deciding to find out, leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. When Tigress felt something touch her shoulder it brought her back to the present and she quickly looked up to find that Xander was looking directly into her eyes. Luckily her orange fur did a good job of hiding the blush that rested upon her cheeks. "I am sorry" He stated sincerly, and Tigresses gaze flickered away from his briefly before she mumbled "It's ok"

Satisfied with this response, Xander nodded and sat back. After a bit of silence between the two companions, Xander had an idea and asked "How about a rematch?" this suggestion caught Tigress off guard, though she was glad for a break in the quiet, and readily agree, so both wolf and tigress walked a few feet away from each other, as well as from the water. Tigress got into her stance and Xander adopted his own, "Fair warning, though," Tigress began, "I'm won't be holding back" Xander just smiled confidentaly and replied "I wouldn't want you to"

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><p>So, what sis you think? The next chapter is alot shorter then this one, so I look to have it up in a few days. Again i'm very sorry about the delay.<p>

TheWulfWriter singing off.


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